Yes, another princess meal question

[ahill004]

We are rethinking our ADRs and know we think we should add a princess meal if just to avoid the time in the parks spent looking and waiting to meet them. (We have 2 1/2 and 4 year old daughters). We have done the Norway lunch in the past and we thought it was fine and there were plenty of princesses. How does the Royal Table compare with princesses and food - both breakfast and lunch?

Also, the website states that 3 and up get magical wands. My 2 year old would be devastated if her sister got one and she didn't because her meal was purchased (the eat for free under 3 thing). Has anyone had this situation?

 

[MrsR]

I am sorry I am not able to answer your question, but may I ask where it says they get free wands?
Thanks!

 

[RMulieri]

I liked both places.I have only done breakfasts and thought they were both good.Can't beat the location of CRT though.They give out the swords/wands at CRT only.Not sure about which meals.Used to be just dinner but someone said lunch too.They did give them to the younger siblings ( if they wanted one) too.

 

[OurfirsttimetoDisney]

I can't really help too much as I have only eaten at CRT. We had breakfast there last month and really loved it. We met Cinderalla (duh!), Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Jamsime and Belle so that really saved us lots of time standing in line to meet them. We got a wand and wishing star at breakfast.

 

[Nancyg56]

My family enjoyed lunch at CRT. My DGD got a wand, I did not notice if young ones were left out. I cannot say for sure but would doubt that would happen. The wands are not expensive so leaving out a 2 YO makes no sense to me, but

Both meals have plenty of Princesses, CRT is 2 TS. If this does not matter I would choose CRT. Lunch in the Castle and a special "meeting" with Cinderella are special. The PSB was nice but did not compare to the Castle.

 

[Katiebell]

Another Princess meal option is 1900 Park Fare Dinner -- Cinderella, Prince Charming, the stepmother and stepsisters. It's less expensive than CRT, and only one TS vs two TS if you are on the dining plan.

 

[ahill004]

We planned on doing 1900 Park for dinner already. I've heard such great things about the interaction there! And my oldest daughter loves the villians in all the Disney stories so she is especially excited. But I still want to knock out meeting the bulk of the princesses at a meal so we don't spend an entire day waiting in line for autographs. The castle sounds like a very cool experience for the girls but I've read such bad reviews about the food. How do breakfast and lunch compare there?

 

[nhl66pens]

I was going to start a different thread, but since the subject has been broached again, how difficult is it to get breakfast ressies at CRT? If I begin calling at 7AM at 180 days, will I probably be ok, or I'll have to try for later in the week when the next week's guests would not have reached their 180 day mark yet?


Thanks

 

[mcsmom]

We had lunch at CRT last September with my DD(3). She was two at the time and she got a wand and a wishing star. So no worries about your younger DD being upset.

As far as the food goes, it is okay. Not the best that I have had in WDW and certainly not the worst. The interaction with the Princesses is wonderful and the Photos that are included with Cinderella were beautiful.

 

[TwoGirlsandDisney]

We went in March and ate at both. Neither one has the best food, but it is all about the Princesses anyway. The castle is very cool to eat in, but getting a reservation is pretty hard, compared to Norway which is a little easier. At the castle sometimes Peter Pan and Captain Hook are sword fighting on the roof, outside the windows, so that he also cool. Good Luck!

 

[bas71873]

We are rethinking our ADRs and know we think we should add a princess meal if just to avoid the time in the parks spent looking and waiting to meet them. (We have 2 1/2 and 4 year old daughters). We have done the Norway lunch in the past and we thought it was fine and there were plenty of princesses. How does the Royal Table compare with princesses and food - both breakfast and lunch?

Also, the website states that 3 and up get magical wands. My 2 year old would be devastated if her sister got one and she didn't because her meal was purchased (the eat for free under 3 thing). Has anyone had this situation?

We took DD4 (at the time) to WDW for the first time this past February and I am SOOOOOO glad that we did both the CRT breakfast and the Norway breakfast (in addition to LTT). Between those 2, we saw at CRT - Cindy, Mary Poppins, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Belle (blue dress). Then at Norway, we saw Belle (yellow dress), Ariel in her wedding dress, Jasmine, Mulan and Mary Poppins. It was FANTASTIC.....the only two characters we stood in line for were for Ariel in the Grotto and Pocahontas....although there was no line for Pocahantas at Animal Kingdom...we got really lucky. Then we saw Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip & Dale at LTT. My DD had NO interest in standing in line to see anyone....to much other fun stuff to see & do. Oh, we did stand in a short line at P&PP to see Pirate Mickey.

So, personally, my advice, hit all the character meals you can. You really could spend you entire vacation standing in line for meet & greets.

Oh, and I think you 2 yr. old will still get a wand. I can't imagine that she wouldn't.

Food wise at CRT breakfast.....other than feeling like it was a bit rushed, I thought the food was good....they brought out juice & coffee and unlimited baskets of breads and bowls of fruit and then the eggs, meats & potatoes were pre-plated, but it was all you can eat. We had a great server and we were stuffed by the time we left. Eating in the castle was worth every penny for us!!!!

 

[ahill004]

Okay - I am feeling much better about eating at CRT now. In fact, we now have a late lunch ADR there this December. The only bad thing is that it is scheduled on the day of the parade taping. (Didn't realize this when I booked) UGHHH! Crowds galore!

 

[thomas998]

I've made the mistake of doing the CRT breakfast twice... once with our oldest daughter and then again when our youngest was with us we took them both... From what you are saying about your two year old will be upset if she isn't treated equally, then I would give you the following advice. If you do the CRT then book it for two seperate reservations one with you and one daughter and then book it for your other daughter and your spouse.... Why you might ask? Well the dirty little secret is even if you pay full price for both daughters they don't treat them seperately. They give you one free photo of both your daughters with Cinderella... if you had done the meal with two reservation one with you and a daughter and one with your spouse and the other daughter, then both would get a free picture of just that daughter and Cinderella.... Now, with that said... I personally wouldn't recommend the CRT if food is in anyway important.

We have done every princess character meal they have, probably most of the character meals without princesses and the CRT breakfast is the absolute worst meal I have ever had.

As for princesses... when at CRT I recall seeing snow white and sleeping beauty... as the only "princess" that drops by your table... they normally have others like alice in wonderland, mary poppins, the ferry god mother... if you want more princesses the Nordic is better... In fact even that nasty norway food is better than the CRT breakfast.

And like we were concerned about the free wand... so we told them our two year old was three and paid for her just to avoid that problem.... however the quality of the wands is now very cheap... A year ago they gave a very neat wand and wishing star that had little lights in it... now they give a cheesey plastic wand and non-lighting button that a dollar store would be ashamed to sell.

Frankly do yourself a favor... go back to norway or if they simply want Cindy go do the 1900 park fare for dinner (only one princess but the step sisters play around more and get into their characters much more).

 

[sammy01]

your kids under 3 will receive a sword for boys and wand for girls. In fact, my son wanted a wand and they were happy to oblige. He got free buttered noodles, drink AND dessert and I wasn't charged a penny for him. Could have been my server - not sure if this is standard or not. have fun!

 

[ahill004]

There seem to be worse reveiws for b-fast so I did a lunch ADR. Now that my girls know we are eating in the castle I guess we are stuck with it! I hope it turns out fun - still a bit nervous about the character interaction and the food but cannot imagine telling my girls we couldn't go after we actually got an ADR!

 

[OurfirsttimetoDisney]

If I would have avoided every place that got a "bad" review on here--I don't think I could have eaten anywhere!! We had no bad dining experiences. I think you will LOVE the castle! It's just so cool to be in there! We had great character interaction so I wouldn't worry about that. Have fun and try not to worry

 

[troynkasey]

Breakfast at CRT was great! Couldn't have been better. We had limited wait (10 minutes) and the food was great. The princesses were awesome and came around and made each little one feel special. Belle was extra special to my daughter who's name is Isabelle. My daughter was in awe. We're doing the Norway princess breakfast this year, so I'll see how they compare.

Honestly, nothing beats eating IN the castle!

 

[Chelley00]

They gave our son a sword when we went, and he was a few weeks from turning 2. Heck, they even asked my 14 year old if he wanted one

We liked CRT breakfast. We thought the food was good, and my daughter had the best time. The princesses even fussed over the bigger boys and the baby.

We're going to Akershus this trip

 

[thomas998]

They gave our son a sword when we went, and he was a few weeks from turning 2. Heck, they even asked my 14 year old if he wanted one

We liked CRT breakfast. We thought the food was good, and my daughter had the best time. The princesses even fussed over the bigger boys and the baby.

We're going to Akershus this trip

While sometimes the characters interact a lot with the kids... there is no guarantee. Having done dozens of character meals over the years, you sometimes find cast members going above and beyond, but have also had our share of cast members that quite frankly acted as if they no longer enjoyed their job and were just going through the motions as quickly as they could with no thought whatsoever to the quality of their interactions. So the best advice is not to expect much and hopefully you will be happily surprised...

In general we've found the meals with character in suits are the most likely to be of poor quality... the princess meals have been hit or miss... the only one that seems to always be very good is 1900 park fare for dinner... and then without a doubt the step sisters and step mother tend to be the most interactive... Cindy quite frankly seems to be the snobbiest of all the princesses..... I don't know why... has anyone had good interaction with her and their kids?

 

[Chelley00]

has anyone had good interaction with her and their kids?

The Cindy we had at CRT was fabulous. She spent tons of time talking with our daughter before their picture. We had really good interaction from all our character meals and I'm so surprised when I read about how terrible some of the restaurant characters are.

We did run into a horrible Jasmine in MK. She was so awful we sent a letter to WDW about her. I think it was because she hadn't eaten in years since she was so skinny